Friday, July 15, 2011

FICTION FRIDAY

JOHN 3:16 ADULT FICTION BLOG TOUR

FEATURING LISA LICKEL

I hope that everyone has had a great week. This is the second week of the Blog Tour that I am a participant of. In this group is an awesome gathering of writers from all over the United Sates and Canada. Although we all have different stories and write in different genres the one thing that we share is a love for Jesus Christ and a burning desire to represent Him in our writing.

Today I introduce to you Lisa Lickel. After you have read about Lisa please leave a comment and visit Lisa's website, http://www.lisalickel.com and purchase one of her books. I appreciate your support and thank you for stopping by.

1. What are your favorite books? I confess that I'm a fiction junkie, and extremely eclectic. I love fantasy and sci fi, I think Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is the best novel of the twentieth century, I enjoy thrillers and mysteries from all eras and cultures.

2. Share with us your journey to publication? I am a local historian and I worked to put together a book of our township history a few years ago. I went on to write some articles for the newspaper, press releases and the like. I then went on to take the Christian Writer's Guild apprentice course and began selling my work before I graduated. A few years later I simultaneously signed with an agent and sold my first story, the cozy mystery, to Barbour Publishing. That book released in 2009, along with another, Healing Grace, a few months later. Meander Scar released in Feb 2010 and won a Grace Award this May for excellence in faith-based fiction. I continue to learn about marketing and enjoy helping other writers.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring authors? Learn all you can from people who have some professional credibility, take some reputable courses, find a mentor, keep trying, develop a thick skin and don't take things personally. Remember, publishing is a business, and the person who is considering buying your manuscript needs to make money too.

4. Have you ever explored interracial themes in your writing? Yes, in the Map Quilt, a former free black woman and her son are on the run from bounty hunters in the prologue. In Wisconsin a fairly large-sized, in fact, two, communities of free black farmers had settlements from early settlement period. I was fascinated with their story when we bought a farm in the same county as one settlement, and their story inspired me. In the contemporary story, the families play a key role.

5. What are the keys to success for a writer? Patience, Persistence, and a continued striving for excellence.

6. Tell us about your future projects? I have recently contracted two more books, and am writing a proposal for another novella collection with a couple of writing friends. My next novel is scheduled for release in October, and is a collection of stories about a family facing the loss of their farm. One unforgettable summer, a brother and sister and their two children come home to find their past, reveal long-held secrets, rediscover faith and find love. The book is not yet titled. The other book is scheduled for release in April and is the sequel to my cozy mystery. It's called the Map Quilt, and is about the mystery of a skeleton in the yard, a woman's claim to the property, murder and lost gold. The hopeful proposal I'm working on is another novella collection that lets me do some research into nineteenth century Louisiana and the Cajuns.